ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Hawks showed the Phoenix Suns
why they are one of the top defensive teams in the league.

The Hawks held the offensive-minded Suns scoreless for more than
six minutes and Alan Henderson scored eight of his 15 points
during the decisive run that led to a 93-85 victory.

After Tom Gugliotta hit a 12-foot jumper to put Phoenix ahead
49-48 with 69 seconds left in the first half, the Hawks scored
the next 18 points, taking their biggest lead at 66-49 with 6:45
left in the third quarter.

Tyrone Corbin scored a season-high 18 points and Mookie Blaylock
added 15 for the Hawks, who won for the fifth time in their last
six games to move a season-high four games over .500.

Atlanta, which came in tied with Miami for the best scoring
defense at 83.3 points per game, held Phoenix to just 35 percent
shooting (27-of-77). The Suns came into the contest third in
scoring at 97.5 points.

"I think it was great. I think it started from our defense and
once our defense got going and were aggressive, we kind of
played off of that," Corbin said, referring to the second-half
run. "We did a great job of doing that tonight, going out and
playing aggressive on the defensive end and letting the offense
generate some points."

Henderson made 7-of-9 shots as the Hawks won despite shooting 42
percent (31-of-74). Atlanta did its damage at the line, making
22-of-24 attempts (92 percent).

Gugliotta scored 21 points and George McCloud added 17 for
Phoenix, which has dropped four of its last six games to fall to
.500.

"We weren't taking real good shoots and lack of execution killed
us," Gugliotta said. "We have good shooters on this team, but
just don't take good shots."

The Hawks still led 81-68 with 9:34 left after Anthony Johnson,
who scored 14 points, nailed a 3-pointer. Johnson made 6-of-10
shots and, along with Corbin, led a 45-25 edge in bench scoring.

But Phoenix got back in the game. Cliff Robinson made a 13-foot
jumper and McCloud followed with a 3-pointer, fueling a 13-2
burst which brought the Suns within 83-81 with 6:11 remaining.

Corbin drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to 86-81 before
Jason Kidd hit a jumper -- his only basket -- as the Suns closed
to 86-83 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Kidd made just 1-of-14
shots, finishing with 11 assists and seven rebounds.

However, Blaylock gave the Hawks some breathing room when he
converted a three-point play to push the lead to six with 78
seconds to play. Phoenix got no closer than four points the rest
of the way.

"I wish we could play more conventional basketball and keep Luc
(Longley) on the court and quit being behind by 17 or 18
points," said Phoenix coach Danny Ainge, whose team has trailed
by double digits in 14 of their last 18 games. "We keep on
making comebacks with our small lineup, but we just can't crack
it. We can't win on a nightly basis like that."

Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 14 rebounds to lead a dominant effort on
the boards for the Hawks, who held a 52-32 rebounding cushion.